This application claims the priority of German patent document 103 13 467.0, filed Mar. 26, 2003 the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a method for fault diagnosis and reprogramming control information in a control unit for a vehicle.
In a control unit of the type referred to, messages stored in a memory area are transferred via an interface to a diagnostic unit which can be operated within the range of 100 meters around the vehicle. Particular messages are selected from the total set of messages, and diagnostic information is created for components of the vehicle based thereon. The messages are transferred to the diagnostic handset, which can be moved independently of the vehicle, via a wireless interface. The invention also relates to a data protocol converter which is required for this method and has two interfaces. One interface can be connected to a standard diagnostic interface in the vehicle according to a first standard, and the second interface permits wireless message transfer using a diagnostic handset.
In conventional cable-oriented diagnostic methods, the diagnostic computer is plugged onto a standard diagnostic interface on the vehicle, so that diagnostic codes and data bus information can be read out on a portable computer. The user can display, for example, the bus activity or the data bus communication between the different control units. Today, it is also possible to use the wired standard diagnostic interfaces to transfer parameters to a memory area in a control unit, for example in order to readjust the injection times in the vehicles. German patent document DE 195 41 816 A1 discloses an example of a conventional diagnostic system which is coupled to a vehicle via a wired interface in order to read out diagnostic data.
In addition, diagnostic methods for vehicles are known in which diagnostic data are transferred from the vehicle to a service station using a wireless interface (for example a mobile telephone interface). In contrast to the conventional diagnostic methods for vehicles in which a computer is plugged onto the engine or onto various control units using cables, in this case the diagnostic data are transferred to the diagnostic computer wirelessly. (Such diagnostic methods are also referred to as remote diagnosis.)
German patent document DE 44 46 512 A1 discloses an apparatus for performing a vehicle test and for evaluating vehicle faults. Using a conventional mobile radio telephone to send fault reports or failure reports, a diagnosis is created for the vehicle. It is also possible to receive data from the vehicle using the mobile radio part, in order to transfer control information for correcting faults to the control unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,485 B1 discloses a method and apparatus for diagnosis in an electrical vehicle control system, in which an evaluation and programming station is provided in the form of a programmable, portable computer. This base station has a wireless network diagnostic interface which can also be used to program the vehicle. If the vehicle is brought into close range of the test environment, a wireless network is set up between the portable diagnostic computer and the vehicle permitting wireless diagnosis and reprogramming of the vehicle. In the known system, diagnostic data and programming data for the vehicles are transferred using the wireless interface of a base station provided specifically in the vehicle. One problem of the disclosed system is that every vehicle needs to be reequipped with the base station in order to permit the wireless diagnosis.
German patent document DE 43 34 859 A1 discloses a device for testing and programming electronic control units in a motor vehicle. The device for testing and programming electronic control units is in the form of a wireless diagnostic unit which, instead of the wireless access key for the vehicle, communicates with a transceiver unit in the lock system, and thereby transfers diagnostic and programming data to the central control unit in the vehicle.
German patent document DE 199 21 846 A1 exhibits a portable test unit having a modem. The portable test unit can be coupled to a wireless interface using a mobile radio, and can use the latter to receive diagnostic fault codes from the vehicle. The diagnostic test apparatus with the portable test unit stores the fault codes and uses the mobile telephone to transfer the fault diagnosis to a workshop, which is independent of the vehicle, for the purpose of fault correction. The diagnostic apparatus can be connected to a test unit in the vehicle using a diagnostic/test connector in the motor vehicle. This diagnostic unit is fitted on the vehicle and uses its mobile telephone device to transfer the diagnostic data to an external service station, which may be many kilometers away from the vehicle.
One object of the present invention is to provide a diagnostic method and a data protocol converter which can be used therein, thus simplifying diagnosis within a workshop in the relatively close surroundings of the vehicle. In particular, the aim is to allow diagnosis to be used in vehicles, which have different vehicle data buses, without the need to provide a separate diagnostic unit or a new diagnostic interface for every diagnostic environment.
These and other objects and advantages are achieved by the method and apparatus according to the invention, in which the data transferred to the vehicle provide a piece of software for improved operation of individual components in the vehicle, parameters for fault-free operation of components, or a hardware description relating to the hardware configuration of reconfigurable hardware. Reconfigurable hardware refers, for example, to “FPGAs” (Field Programmable Gate Arrays). The software, the parameters or the hardware description are transferred from the diagnostic handset directly to the vehicle using the wireless interface, and the messages are converted in the data protocol converter into a first message protocol (for example, a CAN data bus protocol), and also into the message protocol for another vehicle data bus. The other message protocol may relate to a FlexRay, MOST, CAN, Firewire or J1850 data bus.
The method according to the invention for fault diagnosis in a control unit involves the use of a data protocol converter which can send and receive first a message protocol for a first vehicle data bus and second message protocol for a second vehicle data bus. This means that it is possible first to use the fault diagnosis method with a European (for example, German) diagnostic standard. In addition, because the interface has the further message protocol, the portable diagnostic unit can be used on a standard vehicle diagnostic interface with a non-European standard. The data protocol converter according to the present invention can be used to save considerable costs, since it is not necessary to produce a dedicated diagnostic unit for every type of transport means. The diagnostic unit is coupled to the data protocol converter using a wireless interface (for example, according to the Bluetooth standard), and the diagnostic or programming data are simultaneously converted in the data protocol converter into two different message protocols for different vehicle data buses. The data protocol converter can be coupled by its two interfaces to the standard diagnostic vehicle interfaces of the data buses as required.
In the method according to the invention for fault diagnosis, the data protocol converter is used more or less as an adapter which, during a diagnosis, is simply plugged onto the standard vehicle diagnostic interface, and the wireless transceiver unit is then used to transfer the diagnostic data and the reprogramming data to and from the diagnostic unit.
The data protocol converter can also have a third interface for a message protocol for a vehicle data bus, so that it can be coupled to a third standard diagnostic interface in a vehicle. By way of example, for European use, the diagnostic data may be output using a message protocol for the CAN data bus, while the data protocol converter uses a message protocol for the J1850 data bus when an American standard diagnostic interface is being used. The third message protocol can be implemented according to the data bus standard for an Asian transport-means data bus. The use of the data protocol converter according to the invention allows various diagnostic data to be translated in accordance with a national standard, such that the diagnostic handset is able to receive diagnostic data, and the reprogramming data for the vehicle control unit are also transferred to the appropriate message protocol for the transport-means data bus used.
It is also possible to simulate a message protocol for a data bus system according to an old standard using the data protocol converter, so that it is possible to diagnose even relatively old vehicles using the standard diagnostic interface if the workshops now no longer have a suitable diagnostic unit.
In one embodiment of the invention, the data protocol converter has at least two interfaces, including one that can be connected to a standard diagnostic interface in a vehicle according to a national, or old standard, and a second interface which permits wireless message transfer using a diagnostic handset. The data protocol converter has a data protocol translator which converts messages from the standard diagnostic interface in the vehicle into messages having a wireless data format, so that the messages can be received in the diagnostic handset using the latter's wireless interface. The data protocol converter has a further interface so that it can be connected to a second standard diagnostic interface according to a different standard. The data protocol translator converts the messages from the second standard vehicle diagnostic interface into messages having a wireless data format.
A typical diagnostic unit allows workshop personnel to read the diagnostic codes from vehicle control units. Particularly in a workshop or on an assembly line, the wireless interface allows the portable diagnostic unit of the present invention to be used particularly well up to a range of approximately 100 meters. The diagnostic unit can be used to monitor bus activities and communication between different nodes (i.e., control units) via a data bus system. The control unit software is reprogrammed to correct diagnosed faults by transferring software to a flash memory in a control unit. To this end, the data are transferred to the control unit's flash memory via the data protocol converter and the diagnostic interface in the control unit.
The data protocol converter of the present invention allows workshop personnel to access vehicles with a CAN data bus, and to access vehicles with the J1850 data bus, as well. In this case, the same diagnostic handset can be used to work with the wireless interface when a vehicle according to either the American or German standard is being used. It is not necessary to change the diagnostic handset in this instance; rather a data protocol converter is simply plugged onto the respective standard diagnostic interface as an adapter. The diagnostic handset has a graphical user interface and an input unit which the user of the diagnostic handset can use to control the diagnostic unit.
In another embodiment of the invention, the data protocol converter has a wireless interface (particularly according to the Bluetooth standard), so that the diagnostic data can be displayed on a portable computer that can be programmed specifically for this purpose. The diagnostic protocol translator permits transfer of messages from the diagnostic handset to the data bus in the vehicle. In this case, the standard diagnostic interface accesses a vehicle data bus, such as a CAN data bus or J1850 data bus.
The data protocol converter has a means for selecting the diagnostic data within the message stream in the vehicle. In this case, the means selects the necessary diagnostic data from the various messages on the data bus and transfers them to the diagnostic handset using the wireless interface. To reprogram the control information in control units, both flash memories and FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), (i.e., reconfigurable hardware modules) are provided within the control units. The software or the hardware description is preferably stored in a memory in the diagnostic handset and can be downloaded to a control unit using the wireless interface when required. In this case, the software for reprogramming can be transferred either to a CAN data bus or to one of the other data bus systems using the data protocol converter's interfaces.
Alternatively, the data protocol converter can be used without the diagnostic handset for the purpose of translating the messages from one vehicle data bus to the other vehicle data bus. This results in a gateway module which can be coupled externally to the standard diagnostic interfaces in the data bus systems and uses the interfaces to output the respective data protocol for the vehicle data bus system. It is also possible to use the data protocol converter for bus monitoring, with the messages on the data bus being monitored and being checked for a particular event.
If the data protocol converter is used as a gateway which is coupled to the standard diagnostic interfaces in a data bus system, the messages from the following data protocols can be translated into a respective data protocol for another data bus system: RS232, Bluetooth, CAN, K-Line and J1850 data formats, which are supported by the data protocol translator. The data protocol converter can preferably be configured for the different data protocols, so that, for example, CAN messages are translated either to the J1850 format or to the Bluetooth format. To this end, the data protocol converter can be configured differently and the data are transferred to the data bus via the standard diagnostic interface.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings